Taking A Knee, For Something Or Other
Recently, an 11-year-old girl made the news for the self-serving, dishonoring gesture, of kneeling during her classroom’s recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. A classic case of a youngster imitating what she had seen, or heard about, being practiced most prominently, of course, by several multi-millionaire-dollar-earning football professionals, during the traditional pre-game playing of the National Anthem.
Blessed with the physical skills needed to be a pro, and blessed, in turn, to be recipients of colossal pay-checks, larger in a week than most Americans will earn in years, rather than being visibly defiant, those same players should be incredibly thankful for God’s blessings upon their skills, and with that, for the blessing and opportunity to earn such huge incomes, thanks to the freedoms we share, cherish, and have been fought for, in this remarkable land. Yet, it is almost universally those who earn far less, those typical, nation-loving Americans, many who’ve worn the uniform of our country, who stand proudly for our Anthem before each athletic event, or any other time or place, thankful for the privilege of living, working, and raising families in these wondrous, opportunity-filled, United States.
Back for a moment to our misguided, young 11-year-old who, again, was simply mimicking out of place adult behavior that she has either seen on TV, or been told about. Perhaps thinking that it’s ‘cool’ to be a rebel. Unable to explain what exactly she was “protesting,” all she could voice when asked was that she “wanted to show my teacher that she can’t stop me.” Well, there you have it. Defiance from an 11-year-old, having no earthly reason or objective for her action, other than to show that darn teacher of hers that this young girl could do as she pleased, by golly. Blissfully unaware that by “taking a knee,” rather than standing with her classmates, she was, unknowingly insulting the generations before her who fought and died to, first, establish our great, free nation, and then made repeated sacrifices in combat to maintain it, so that we might enjoy the continuing privilege of living in this land that is both sovereign and free.
Whether for the Pledge, our Anthem, or our beautiful, symbolic Flag, respectful Americans stand with hand over heart, when given the opportunity by the public presentation of one or all of the above. Saying it was her ‘civil right’ to kneel, granted by the repeated, Court-stretched interpretations of the First Amendment (e.g., OK to burn America’s flag), while that may be true, there are far more useful, appropriate, respectful, and honorable ways to make use of our precious right of free speech.
Unfortunate enough that by her classroom gesture, a young lady is innocently and naively showing disrespect for our great nation, and all that it has taken to keep it so, now comes Mrs. Clinton to gain headlines, by further publicizing this misguided youthful act. Said she: “It takes courage to exercise your rights to protest injustice, especially when you’re eleven! Keep up the good work.” First of all, what courage does it take to simply imitate, without real understanding, what you’ve seen on TV or heard talked about at home or elsewhere? No courage at all. It was more likely just a youngster showing off for her friends, as children are want to do, and by so doing, of course, showing her teacher the limits of her classroom authority! Secondly, “injustice”? What possible injustice does an 11-year-old have to protest? Two-parent home (according to the press write-up), food on the table, clothes to wear, free basic education, and of course, the incredible gift of the First Amendment. As far as we know, there’s nothing anywhere near ‘injustice’ for this youngster. And as for Mrs. Clinton complementing her and encouraging her small act of civil disobedience, for someone now out of the spotlight, but desperately yearning to get back in it, she’s pretty much, like that young girl, just showing off.
When the proper citizen response is to stand and honor America, interestingly, those football players who prefer to ‘take a knee,’ don’t appear to be unified on why, or exactly what, they’re protesting. Reporters have asked, and have received any number of responses. Much of it seems to come down to simply showing loyalty to their teammates, as opposed to loyalty to our country! So it appears to be largely symbolic, apparently representing a number of issues or concerns, rather than taking such off the field, where they belong, and where there’s far more potential for achieving positive momentum and solutions toward righting any wrongs.
In sum, trading symbolism for action, there are, in fact, brave Americans, volunteers all, who actually have, and are, ‘taking a knee’ for an important, definable, unified cause. They are the incredibly courageous men and women of our military, too many of whom have had a knee(s) (or other limbs) ‘taken’ in combat, genuine sacrifice in service to our Nation, our Flag, our Pledge, our Anthem, and above all else, our continued Freedom.
(Student & Clinton quotes via LifeZette.com, Staff Report, 8-16-18)